Rio 2016 Olympic logo unveiling follows plagiarism controversy

Rio De Janeiro
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It will be more than five years until the international spectacle known as the Olympics arrives in Rio de Janeiro. But there is already controversy brewing over the logo design, which is thought to be very similar to a Colorado charity.

During a New Year's Eve ceremony at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Olympic organizers revealed the 2016 Olympic logo, reports Xinhua News Agency. However, there are accusations floating around that the logo was plagiarized.

According to the Associated Press, the creators of the Rio Olympics logo say that any similarities between their logo and the Colorado charity Telluride Foundation’s logo are strictly a coincidence. The creators immediately issued a denial when local media drew comparisons.

“For some reason, we missed that one,” said the director of the Brazilian agency that created the logo, Fred Gelli, in an e-mail to Yahoo! Sports. He added that he has never seen the Telluride Foundation logo before.

The Rio 2016 logo depicts circular objects coming together. The Telluride Foundation logo has the same thing but it’s larger and has legs.